Appearances
by needednot82
Summary: In keeping up appearances, sometimes we can't help but let the truth out.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is set in 2016**

The past several weeks had been quiet by NCIS standards, thankfully. There had been no murders of sailors, no one had attempted a kidnapping or had been kidnapped. No, it had been nice. Almost mundane with simply paperwork to keep up with and annoying co-workers while doing so. Until the week prior when things suddenly got interesting surrounding Christopher LaSalle.

Now, if you would have asked him, he'd much prefer mundane and boring and all those other words that mean 'not interesting'. At least this time when he wasn't the center of a million questions he didn't have the answers to. He'd kept his cool when all sorts of things started popping up at their headquarters. He didn't mind the harassing, untraceable phone calls at all hours of the night. There came a time when LaSalle had reached his limit. It was 8:15a.m. on a Tuesday morning in February.

"Is there a Mr. Christopher LaSalle here?" A local courier asked from the front doorway to the main office space of the NCIS building.

The man in question had been talking with his three other co-workers; Agents Dwayne Pride, Meredith Brody, and Sonja Percy, with his back to the door. Christopher spun his chair towards the man quickly, rising out of it just as quick. What was next?

"That's me," he said, walking towards the courier, who Christopher was sure was a native of New Orleans if the accent was anything to go by. "Can I help you?"

The courier held out a brown 9 x 12 storage envelope. "No signature required. Have a good day, sir," the man said and saw himself out. His job was done.

Chris took the envelope and watched the man leave before turning to face his co-workers who had all gone quiet. Did he really want to open this now? He walked back over to his desk, setting the envelope down.

"Well?" Pride asked, watching LaSalle carefully. Despite the other man's cool demeanor, he knew there was some anxiety there. It was only normal.

LaSalle pursed his lips. He dreaded opening the file. What if there was something that gave them a clue as to the person behind all the latest drama? What if there wasn't? What if someone could get hurt if he didn't? What if the person had given up and wrote him a "Okay. You got me." letter? He let out a small sigh and opened the envelope. Inside were two 8 x 10 photos. One was of a sign that read 'Hancock Medical Center' with a blurry hospital in the background; the other was of a burnt orange Mitsubishi Outlander. Both were taken right before dawn.

He glared at the photos and stood up, snatching his jacket off his chair. LaSalle gave the photos to his boss. "Call the Bay St. Louis PD. Tell them to meet me there. I'll be back shortly," he said curtly, not giving Pride a chance to answer him nor an opportunity for either of the two women to tag along, before he was on the phone and out the door. LaSalle dreaded making this call.

Pride looked to the photos before nodding in answer to someone who wasn't there. He wasn't going to give details to the rest of the team; but it was more evidence for them to scour over. He passed the photos to Percy and Brody. "Bring up what we have," he said, picking up the receiver of his phone.

/

Elizabeth had a long night. She was called in to the hospital at midnight for an emergency gall bladder removal which had gone from bad to worse quickly. 6 hours later, they had closed the patient up and wheeled them into recovery. Two hours after that, Elizabeth was finally free of duties as the patient had been transferred to ICU. Her gut was telling her that the patient wouldn't make it, which broke her heart for the family.

After exchanging "good morning" with several friends as they were coming in, she had gone down to the hospital exercise facility to utilise the showers. She felt gross and didn't want to mess up clean clothes. Elizabeth had just pulled on her t-shirt when her phone started ringing. She looked to the caller ID and couldn't help but roll her eyes. Chris. What did he want this time of morning? She thought about ignoring him but figured he didn't normally call for no apparent reason.

"What do you want?" No sense in being nice; she knew they were still on the outs. They had been this way for a little over a month.

"Are you still at the hospital?" Elizabeth frowned, he sounded... odd. How did he know she was at the hospital? Was he tracking her phone now?

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Stay there until I get there. Please." LaSalle's voice emphasized that last word. She had every right to think he sounded odd.

"Get here? What's going on?" Any annoyance with him could wait a little longer.

"Just wait." He hung up.

Elizabeth stared at her phone a few seconds before shaking her head, putting it back in her bag. She really didn't want to listen to him, but what could it hurt?

45 minutes later, her phone rang again. "Yeah?"

"Meet me in the ER." Click.

Elizabeth had waited around for this? She rolled her eyes. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep all day. Although, if Chris had drove all the way from New Orleans this early, something was up. She put her backpack over her shoulder and cleaned up the cafeteria dishes; eating was one less thing she had to do once home.

Three minutes later and Elizabeth was walking through the emergency room, past the rooms and into the main foyer. She recognized him from across the room and her heart started fluttering. His style was still the same, she noted. Black t-shirt and jeans. She spotted the gun and badge as he turned from having his back to her to speaking with two police officers. This definitely was not good.

Elizabeth waited until the officers went back outside before she approached him. "So what's going on?"

LaSalle turned, half expecting her. His brow was furrowed, deep in thought about something. "I can't tell you most of it, and I can't tell you here. But I need you to come back to New Orleans with me." He was trying to keep his voice neutral, and any emotions at bay. He was so relieved to see she had listened to him and was in one piece. She was still mad at him, it seemed. He'd deal with that later.

Elizabeth stared at him, not quite believing what she was hearing. "Why, exactly? I've been here 9 hours. I was here all day yesterday. I've only had three hour sleep. I really want to go home. I really, really don't want to go to New Orleans."

He expected this. He was grateful that she didn't tack 'with you' to the end of her last sentence. "I told you, I can't tell you here. For once, please listen to me without questions. I'll answer when I can when we get there."

She put her head down and sighed. "Alright. Can I at least drop my bag off at my car?"

"Sorry, but no," Christopher said, shaking his head, taking the bag off her shoulder and onto his own. He could see all the questions she wanted to ask building up, but she kept them to herself. She simply waved her hand and said "lead the way, Agent LaSalle."

/

Two hours after LaSalle left, Pride, Percy, and Brody had found nothing more than what they already had. No new evidence. They had sent the photos over to Patton Plame to see if he could extract anything from them. When LaSalle walked back in, they were once more re-hashing on how and why this person would single Christopher out.

Percy and Brody were clearly surprised to see a dark haired woman in jeans following LaSalle in; Pride, not so much. He had a feeling this would happen at some point. There were things he knew about his agents that he felt had no bearing on whether or not to be brought up. He'd let Chris handle this, despite the looks he was receiving from his two younger agents.

LaSalle stood between his co-workers desks after setting down Elizabeth's bag, "Percy, Brody, this is Elizabeth. 'Liz'beth, this is Meredith Brody and Sonja Percy. You remember Pride, I'm sure," he said, indicating who was who. Pride was sitting behind his desk, watching the various volleys of conversation. Elizabeth nodded to both of them, "nice to meet you." Chris went over to his desk and pushed his chair Elizabeth's way before getting one of his own.

Brody managed to regain her words first. "Hello." She eyed the hooded sweatshirt Elizabeth was wearing, the crimson coloring and white lettering on it helped her try to make some connections, "You, uh, went to Alabama too?"

Elizabeth hadn't realized what she had grabbed so early that morning. It had been dark and she knew temperatures had dropped. She was going more for warmth than style. Chris tried to surpress a grin as he sat at his desk; he'd been well aware of what she was wearing. Any other time he'd tease her about it. "Oh... no. It... it was dark when I put it on. It was clean and hanging up, so I didn't notice what was on it. I went to a school with much better taste," she said, some teasing in her tone.

Brody and Percy exchanged looks. Wheels were spinning fast in their minds as they slowly connected the dots. When Pride had stepped out of the room, they had looked up the license plate to see just who the car belonged to and why LaSalle would drive out to Mississippi about it. Perhaps it would be a pertinent clue. It really wasn't much of a lead. They found the car belonged to one Elizabeth LaSalle of Waveland, MS. The two women had opted to not dig any deeper and decided between the two that it was Chris's sister. They knew he had one but simply didn't know her name. They also didn't know if she was older or younger. And if they kept speculating based on the woman sitting near to them, they would say younger. However, both Percy and Brody were beginning to think otherwise. Percy was the first to vocalize it. "So how are you connected to that grinning fool over there?" She asked, gesturing to Chris, who was at present hiding his face behind some paperwork, trying to make head way. He had purposely set them all up.

Elizabeth turned to glare at him. He still hadn't explained why she had to come all the way out to New Orleans, without her vehicle (and sleep), especially when she had to get back to work the next morning. "Well, when I was young and dumb I went on a date with him and it snowballed from there, ending up in marriage," well, that was one way to describe it. Had she been in any other mood, she'd have laughed at the expressions on the two women's faces. Ever since Chris had been in the sheriff's department, they had always made sure there was a line between work and personal lives. It wasn't until now they had to break that line. Elizabeth wasn't sure she liked that very much.

Pride decided to interject, "Now that we're caught up, can we get you anything?" he asked Elizabeth.

She saw her opportunity now, "I'd like to go home, to sleep."

/

Elizabeth didn't get exactly as she wished. She wasn't able to go home - to either the one in Waveland or the one here in New Orleans; but she was able to sleep. Pride directed LaSalle to take her up to the room that he used. A bed was a bed. Chris still hadn't shared with her the point of her being there, but she hoped to corner him shortly.

She checked the time on her phone - 4:23p.m. It wasn't as long as she would have liked but she certainly felt better. After re-doing her ponytail, Elizabeth made her way down to the offices, careful not to get lost. When she walked in the room, she could see Percy and Brody, but neither Pride nor Chris; she was a bit apprehensive to be with the two women. She trusted them as Chris' partners, but she was sure they had a million questions for her. She had several herself. "Could y'all explain why exactly I'm here?"

It was evident they weren't expecting her by the way the women jumped. It was Brody who spoke first. "I'm not sure what LaSalle has told you, but as to why you're here - we don't know. He received an envelope which had a couple photos and then he was gone," Brody wasn't able to break protocol by telling her much more. "Next thing we know, the two of you were here. He hasn't said much else."

Chris hadn't said anything to her on their way over aside from "Have you ate?" and once she answered with the affirmative, he got quiet again. "He hasn't told me anything. He said he would. I'm not sure when he will. Where is he?" Elizabeth said, sitting in the chair he had moved for her earlier.

Percy spoke this time. "He and Pride went to go look into something for our case. You're really married to him?" There was no sense beating around the bush. Percy meant it more as a statement than a question. Her name reflected the union. Elizabeth simply nodded. "How long?" Perhaps it was prying, perhaps it could help with the case.

"It was 8 years in December," Elizabeth said, a bit nostalgic. "It wasn't anything fancy. We eloped."

"How'd you even meet him?" Brody asked. This was simply curiosity. It wasn't everyday that someone who portrays themself as a non-commital flirts-with-everything sometimes-braggart comes out as married.

Elizabeth knew the questions would come, one reason she was okay with not being associated with his job. Her questions were still unanswered. "We had mutual friends from high school. I may have even run into him every now and then, but I can't remember. The summer before our Junior year in college, I think it was, we both happened to be home and invited to a party of one of our friends. We got along." There were more details to that than she would be willing to share. "We kept in contact some. Over the next year we'd see each other here and there as schedules allowed. We were in two different states, afterall. I went to college in Austin, Texas; my graduation was before his and he randomly shows up for it. Few weeks later I randomly showed up at his. I'm a nurse and had accepted a job in Mississippi right before I graduated. This was two months before Katrina. I think I saw him once or twice during that span, he was trying to get on with the Sherriff's department at the time. Katrina comes and goes, everything is a total loss over on my end, for the most part. The smaller towns did not do as well as New Orleans. Two years go by. It's now June, I think, of 2007 and I get a knock at my door. Imagine my surprise when I see it's Chris. The rest is history." Elizabeth left out a lot of even more personal details, but she figured that would answer a lot of questions, she hoped.

Her two listeners seemed to soak it in, "And you two have been living in two different places the entire time?" Brody again.

Elizabeth nodded again. "It's not conventional, but it works. I wouldn't know what to do living with him full time. We see each other regularly. We alternate weekends and if I get time off during the week, I show up." That hadn't been true for the last month or more. They had both made excuses.

Percy turned to Brody, "And you had no idea?"

Brody couldn't help but laugh, "I never would have guessed."

Elizabeth spoke up, "No one knew, until now. Well, Pride knew. Pride knew about us since Chris' days at the Sheriff's department."

/

Pride noticed how sullen LaSalle seemed to be since his return that morning. It was almost fortune that they had a small lead now; if it could be called that. When they left, they didn't know that Elizabeth would be awake just twenty minutes and be almost interrogated. However, questions were rolling through Pride's mind. He wasn't sure if he should bring up anything. LaSalle seemed content with just staring straight at the road before him.

"Have you told Elizabeth what's going on?"

"Nope. I'm putting that off long as I can."

He was not one to pry into other's relationships. That was there business. However, he hated to see anyone go through a divorce like his at the same time. "Are you two, uh... better?" Chris had mentioned quickly, once, that they were at odds but never said anything else. He wasn't sure if it was a vent or fishing for advice.

LaSalle turned his head to give his boss a look - one that some would say wasn't very nice.

Pride stared out at the road before, one hand on the steering wheel, the other resting on his door. He could feel LaSalle's look. "This won't help matters any, I'm sure."

Chris went back to staring at the road.

He went to open his mouth when LaSalle cut him off, "King! Come on! We don't do this." Pride couldn't help but chuckle, but also couldn't help his next sentence, "I just don't want to see you go through pain and misery opening up a bar."

LaSalle furrowed his brow and didn't respond; he just went back to staring.

/

5:30 found Pride and LaSalle back at their building with more frustrations than answers. They could tell they were getting close to getting this case solved, but without more evidence, nothing would budge. This didn't bode well for Chris.

Brody had directed him towards the garden as to where he could find Elizabeth before it seemed everyone disappeared for home. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation. "Hey," he said, pulling a chair out that was nearest hers.

Elizabeth looked up from her Kindle before shutting it off and placing it on the table before her. She hadn't been able to focus on reading much anyways. "Am I free to go now?" She purposely made it sound like she was being imprisoned. Perhaps she should dial back the attitude.

LaSalle had knew this wasn't going to be easy, but didn't think she was going to be this stubborn. Who was he kidding? "Not quite," he said, a bit uneasily. "It'll make sense when I tell you what's going on... to some extent." He looked up to her to see if she was listening; she was. "Last week, perhaps even into the week before that, I start getting these phone calls where the line would be empty when I answer and then the person would hang up. The calls started getting verbal; nothing that bothered me. Stuff started showing up here. Again, didn't bother me. Concerned Pride some. No evidence though. Then the tires on the truck got slashed while I was working late here. It went on. We've been looking into it and nothing so far. It's driving us nuts."

Elizabeth held up a hand to halt his rambling. "Where do I come in to play?"

Chris nodded, "I'm getting to that. You come into play this morning. A courier brought an envelope by this morning that held two photos," Brody had mentioned that, Elizabeth recalled, "One was a picture of the hospital where you worked and the other was your car. They were from this morning. Someone, we don't know who, found out who you were and knew where you worked." He wasn't going to provide all the details. "I brought you here to keep you safe. They ended up finding things with your car that cause both King and I to agree with the decision to bring you here. We didn't find that out until earlier this afternoon."

Elizabeth didn't know whether to be touched or horrified. So this had been him being over-protective. She would have been a liar if she thought she wouldn't have done the same thing had the roles been reversed. "Why couldn't I go home and hide out there? Why come here?"

He hesitated in his response, "I wasn't there. I'm here." Chris was not about to tell her about the footprints outside of the apartment in Waveland. He wasn't about to tell her that there were people currently scouring every inch of the interior to find *something*. "We're fairly certain that whoever this is doesn't know where I live here. It's a bit... alarming, that they found you. But I can work better knowing you're here. Which brings me to what I have to say next..." he started fidgeting in his seat.

She watched him, wondering where this could possibly lead. She couldn't help but feel more and more irritated towards him right now. Elizabeth knew this was outside of his control, but the annoyance and change in schedules and all the facts he didn't tell her was infuriating. She loved him a lot. She couldn't fathom ever leaving him permanently; she couldn't even describe how much she loved him, but right now she wanted to leave him. Her jaw twitched a time or two as she refrained, letting him speak.

"It stands within good reason that you shouldn't go back to Waveland for the next day or so, at least until we find whoever is doing this." Chris knew this wouldn't bode well. He certainly was surprised when she simply got up and left the area he was in. He preferred it when everything was out in the open. Her being quiet unnerved him. He opted to give her a few minutes by herself before following her inside, scooping her tablet off the table to take with him. LaSalle set it on his desk, before leaning against the desk, watching Elizabeth pace. He didn't even know if Pride was still there or not.

Elizabeth definitely needed to leave the area he was in. She wanted to get so angry with him but knew he was basing decisions on what Pride was saying too. He was the boss. She left the garden and found her phone, sending a text to her boss saying she'd be calling shortly to explain what she could, but most likely would not be in for the next day or so due to a family emergency. That was one way to describe it. She put her phone in her pocket, and turned to him, trying her best not to yell. They hadn't been the best problem solvers in the past. "So I'm to just stay here then? Until... whenever?"

"Not here, as in the office. You can go to the apartment with me. Or if you don't want that, you could stay here with Pride. Or I could get you a hotel room." Chris suggested, carefully phrasing things. He didn't tell her that if she chose a hotel he'd be watching her room all night. He wasn't taking chances with her.

She sighed. "Could I stay with someone else, so long as I stay in New Orleans?" Elizabeth really didn't want to confront the root of the problem right now. Not with so much other chaos going on. She knew what would ultimately happen if she stayed with him.

LaSalle couldn't deny that her words hurt a lot. "I can call Pride and ask him. It's his decision in the end." He wasn't too thrilled with the idea of her traipsing all over New Orleans. He normally was not this protective. He just hated not knowing the end game of this other person. He wanted her close by, knowing he was the one looking out for her. Not someone else.

Elizabeth shook her head, "No." She didn't want Pride involved anymore than he had to be. "I'll just stay at the apartment." It was a two bedroom apartment that she loved. He had it before they had gotten together and she couldn't have picked a better one herself. It was in the heart of the French Quarter; parade routes went down their street and it was so lively all the time. She loved to people watch during Mardi Gras, out of their way. She was able to watch the world going by from the balcony at any time. It was probably among her favorite places in the world.

/

Elizabeth and Chris hadn't spoke outside of deciding what to eat for dinner, and both, at various times, started to say something before stopping themselves. They were choosing to ignore the other for time being. Elizabeth unlocked their gate while he balanced the food and drinks up the flight of stairs as she locked the gate back. She squeezed by him on the platform to unlock the door and then stepped out of his way.

The apartment was always tidy, and today proved no different. Whether it was because he was fastidious about keeping it clean or the fact he was almost never there, she could never really tell. She promptly crossed through the kitchen and living room and out onto the balcony. She was truly home out here, even if it was 65 degrees; which was cold by her standards. She had missed Mardi Gras this year. It fell early and she had Chris hadn't been speaking much at the time.

Elizabeth heard him set the box down and mess around in the cupboards. A few minutes later he showed up with a plate in his hand for her. She just shook her head, "Not hungry." This caused him to roll his eyes and set the plate on the table next to her. Much to her displeasure (or so it seemed), he joined her moments later with his own plate.

Chris sat in the chair on the other side of the small table, and took a bite of his pizza. "We need to talk, you know this right?" He asked, once he had swallowed.

"Tomorrow. I'm too tired right now," it was a lame excuse, and Elizabeth knew it.

"No, I think now is a good time. We're both here. We need to figure out what's going on with us."

Elizabeth stared straight ahead, wondering what he was going to say that was different than all the other times. "We both know what's going on. I know I'm right and you know you're right. There's no reaching an even ground."

"What if something happens again..."

She cut him off, "Nothing is going to happen again. There hasn't been anything between us for something to happen."

Chris tightened his jaw. This happened every single time they tried to talk. "That's because you cut me off from your world. You won't talk to me."

She turned to glare at him. "We've been like this since the beginning. I haven't spoke to you because you're asking something you wouldn't do yourself. Remember, you left Waveland to come back here. I'm going to bed. I'm staying in the second bedroom." With that, she stood up and walked inside. It was only 6:40 in the evening. She didn't care. At least they didn't start yelling again.

 **Author's note: I promise, she's not normally such a brat.**


	2. Chapter 2

LaSalle had been sleeping relatively well for a few hours. Hours earlier, after Elizabeth had disappeared inside, he had waited before following her. They were finally able to have a decent conversation and try to resolve some of the issues plaguing them. At least they were making progress, if not real solutions.

She had persisted in staying in the spare bedroom, despite any progress they had made. Chris hadn't made note of the time when he left the room; he figured around 10, but had ended up pacing on the balcony for better part of an hour before quitting and trying to sleep. He tossed and turned before finally drifting off only to be woke up minutes later it felt like.

"Chris," a voice hissed to him. He was being shook, he realized. Who was in his apartment? His brain quickly woke up as the pieces came together. Right. "Chris. You need to get up. Now. Hurry."

"What's going on?" Chris slurred; he was awake if his verbal skills were not. The urgency in Elizabeth's voice caused him to be on high alert.

"Someone's messing with the gate. I hear it rattling," she said, watching as he found some shorts and then gathered his service weapon and keys.

Any other time, he would have brushed off her worry; any other time, it would have been some drunk deciding to sleep it off at their gate. It had happened before. Any other time was not right now and he headed out of his bedroom determined to get to the bottom of this. He didn't know what time it was, but nonetheless said "Call Pride" and disappeared.

Outside on the landing, Chris could make out the shape of someone down by the gate, squatting in darkness; he hated having the streetlight blocked by the awning of the shop next door.

"Federal agent," he called from halfway down the stairs, "What are you doing on my property?"

LaSalle heard a noise of surprise and next thing he knew a brick somewhere up over to the left of him was hit as he saw the figure turn and run. The initial shot was all he needed and returned two shots, hoping to injure the person somehow. He heard a yell of pain and saw the person get into a dark vehicle before it sped off.

He let out a sigh and leaned against the wall next to the gate. Chris knew which way the car went but couldn't get a make or model of it. He put the safety on his weapon and went back up the stairs to put more clothes on before police arrived; he was certain at least one of the neighbors had called them. Gunshots in this area weren't too very common. He also wondered when Pride would arrive. He figured it had only been about 2 minutes that he was outside. Maybe 5 since he was initially woke up.

Chris flipped on the lightswitch on the inside of the door, "Liz?" he called out, heading back for his room. It wasn't like this place was very large. She showed up a moment later, shakily. "I called him; he said it'd be about ten minutes." He took a moment to look at the clock, 2:12a.m. It was going to be a long day.

/

5 hours later and LaSalle was fighting a migraine from a lack of sleep and leads going no where. The police had shown up just a few minutes after he had gone back outside, this time without his gun by with his badge. Pride had followed them 30 seconds later. It had taken an hour and a half to get the New Orleans police department up-to-date on their case and then move forward with what had just taken place along with collecting statements and evidence (however little there ended up being).

Pride had called both Percy and Brody at 6 to bring them up to speed and have more eyes available, but an hour later, they were all at a stand still. It was still too early to call any businesses and ask for security camera footage and the police department out in BSL still hadn't turned over anything.

The two women took advantage of the slow period and Elizabeth being out of ear shot elsewhere in the building - both she and LaSalle could agree that she ought not to be alone at the apartment. "So..." Brody said, leaning back in her office chair, facing Chris who was growing more and more visibly frustrated as the time wore on.

Chris looked up from his paperwork to the woman who spoke, "So?"

"So you and Elizabeth..." Brody trailed off, with a smirk.

Chris couldn't help but laugh, despite his frustrations. He was surprised as to how long they had kept comments to themselves and not harrassed Elizabeth. "What about us?"

"You're really married?" Despite the apparent name change, Brody was still having a hard time wrapping her mind around it. Something seemed off.

"People don't change their name on the fly," he said. This wasn't true necessarily; they had people all the time coming up with phony names and trying to hide with alternate names. "But, yeah. We are. Courthouse has the documents." Courthouse. That put an idea in Chris' mind while Brody still talked.

"Perhaps this is out of line; forgive me for asking, but why is it that neither of you wear wedding rings?" Having worked with him for over a year now, Brody never saw a band on his hand. For that matter, Elizabeth didn't wear hers either and Brody hadn't seen any indication that either had worn them in a long time. No tan lines or indentations. Percy watched the verbal volleying, interested in what Chris had to say.

"You're right, it is out of line. But it isn't something horrible or secretive. I never wore a ring. Nah, I take that back, I wore it for about a week after we got married and then stopped. I didn't want every criminal I ran into knowing somewhere out there I had someone. People are crazy. You've seen this." He paused. "Liz wears hers sporadically. Most of the time she doesn't wear her rings on her finger. Instead she has them on a necklace chain," or rather, she did. He wasn't sure what she did with them anymore. "Since she works in the operating room mostly, they are advised not to wear rings and bracelets for sanitary reasons. I think she could wear just her band and nothing be said, but she doesn't want to risk it."

Brody seemed to accept this answer; something Chris was thankful for, as it was the truth. "So did you have a big, fancy wedding?"

He shook his head as he stood up, something weighing heavily on his mind. "No, we eloped a day before our vacation. I'll be back," he said and went to find Elizabeth.

Chris walked back in a few moments later, a puzzled Elizabeth following him. He went to his desk after rolling a chair near it. It took him a moment to find, but he found a notebook to write things in. "Have you been in the OR only for the past few weeks?" Chris finally asked her, looking up at her.

Elizabeth was very confused. Chris had found her reading once more outside and beckoned her inside, saying he needed her help and had questions. She thought it was about early this morning. "No, they've been short staffed in the ER, so I've spent a day or so in there over the last few weeks." Brody and Percy were giving LaSalle questioning looks too, wondering where he was going with this.

"Get anyone suspicious?" He was writing more down, trying to follow his scattered and harried train of thought.

"As in what? We get people addicted to pain meds in and need more. We have people de-toxing off who knows what. We see domestic abuse. What's suspicious?"

Chris thought about that. He didn't know how to explain it. "Anyone weird - outside of drug users, how about that?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "We get our fair share." A lightbulb went off. "Oh... there was one guy. I'm sure he was on something but he came in for a broken wrist. He thought my last name was odd."

LaSalle, Percy, and Brody's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah?" Chris said, "Odd how?"

Elizabeth didn't think much of it at the time, or now for that matter. It was one comment three weeks ago. "He made some comment about how it didn't seem all that common or whatever. I shrugged it off."

"Do you remember his name?" Chris didn't like the way this was going. He was afraid it was a grudge thing from years past. It would explain why he had been singled out.

She gave him an 'are you crazy' look. "It's been around... 2 weeks ago. I'm not sure I could legally do that anyway. You might be able to get records of who visited then. I think it was two weeks ago, today. Wednesdays aren't necessarily busy."

Chris sighed. Great, more waiting. But it was more than what they had as of an hour ago. Surely something would come of all these loose ends. The possible injury from this morning; the hospitals had been alerted. His eyes widened as he sat up, "Call whoever is in charge of the ER," he said to Elizabeth suddenly.

Not wanting to argue or start another fight, she pulled out her phone, "What am I calling about?" she asked him, wondering who exactly would be on duty this morning.

"Ask if someone's come in today with a gun shot wound." He knew it was low odds, but they had been there before. And if they had been before, they could be local to that area.

Elizabeth shrugged, "I'll call; you talk. You're more likely to get answers than I would, honestly," she said and dialed. She waited until she got someone on the line and was connected to the right person before handing it over to LaSalle.

The entire conversation lasted five minutes. "No gun shot wounds, but she said she'd keep in touch if she did, and leave a note for the next one in charge. There's going to be an official request put in to get the files from two weeks ago, so we're back to waiting. At least there's cooperation."

/

The day dragged on slowly for all of them. Eventually, offices and shops were open and LaSalle, Brody, Percy, and Pride were on the phone trying to get information from one source or another. Throughout the day, two would disappear for a couple hours and then come back with perhaps a bit more information. Chris' neighbors were willing to give up the surveillance tapes in hopes of them being useful. They hated to think of him moving because of this; they rather enjoyed having someone in law enforcement near their stores, even if he wasn't home a lot.

Much to LaSalle's chagrin, the work day ended without hearing from anyone. None of the hospitals contacted them, nor did either of the two police departments they were working with. Plame was still working with the video to try and get facial features or a vehicle description.

After Brody and Percy hesitantly left, Pride turned to Chris and Elizabeth. "What are you two going to do?" he questioned. He knew Chris would have no issue going back to his apartment, nothing bothered him for the most part, but Elizabeth was a different story.

LaSalle shrugged, "Guess we'll go home, I reckon. The lock hasn't been broke on the gate or anything." He looked to Elizabeth, "You good with that?"

She really wasn't okay with that. She'd much rather be miles and miles away than in the middle of this. However, Elizabeth wasn't sure if Chris would listen if she asked not to stay there. She bit her lip and shook her head slightly. "Is there another option?"

Pride interjected before Chris could. "I could call Brody or Percy and see if either of them have room for you," he offered hopeful.

Chris shook his head on that, he wasn't willing to let her out of his sight. Call it paranoid or over protective, he wasn't having it at that moment. Who knew where this person could be, even if true physical harm hadn't been initiated. Chris was certain nothing exciting would happen through out all of this, but he wasn't willing to make those bets. "We could stay here or get a hotel room. Hotel couldn't be under the LaSalle name."

Pride nodded, "I could get a room for you or you could use an alias. I'm not saying you couldn't stay here, but actual living space isn't much."

Elizabeth thought about it a moment. "Hotel."

/

90 minutes later and Elizabeth was sitting on the edge of a bed in the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, which truth be told wasn't but a few blocks from home, but it made her feel better knowing how secure it was. She was presently watching Chris peer out of the window every thirty seconds or so it seemed. After they had left the office, they went to their home to get clothes and toiletries which was all non-eventful. They hadn't been followed, nothing was off about their apartment. It still didn't make Elizabeth less nervous.

She had to admit the room was quite lovely. She had never stayed at this hotel before; never had the need to really. She'd love to stay here again for a less frightening reason.

Finally Chris spoke, "Percy and Brody haven't been bugging you with questions, have they?"

"No, why? They asked me a couple yesterday, but that was it."

He just shook his head; as long as she wasn't being pestered. "They asked me a couple today. Wanted to know if we had a big, fancy wedding and all that."

Elizabeth couldn't help but grin, "What was your response?"

Chris could hear the grin in her voice without having to turn towards her. "Said we eloped. That might be the closest description."

She couldn't stop the laugh this time. That was an interesting description. They had been dating -consistently - for about 6 months and were about to leave on a cruise the following day when Chris suggested, casually, that they should get married - that day. It was then followed by a rather pretty ring. She was surprised, but agreed nonetheless. They were married during his lunch break and a simple vacation turned into a honeymoon. It had been a great 8 years since. "Think they'll press you for more information?"

He loved to hear her laugh, "I'm sure. They can be very subtle at time, other times not so much. It's just ... different. They are having a hard time accepting this. The me they know isn't... " he trailed off, unsure how to handle this conversation. There were things he preferred she didn't know.

Elizabeth nodded. "I got it. You can stop." There were things she was glad she didn't know about him. Perhaps this evening wouldn't be as bad as last night. "So you're sleeping on the floor, right?" That warranted her a dirty look. Ah yes, a fun night indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: I need a proofreader and ought not to write when drowsy. Sorry for a delay; I was going one way with this and then decided against it. Thanks for reading.

/

If anyone asked LaSalle on how the night went, he would have a big smile and say it was "good". It probably could be listed as one of the best nights they'd had in several months time. There was something to be said about waking up with someone you truly love so close by. He wasn't about to jinx himself by saying they were back to being on the same page; no, things were probably no where near that in reality. It would have been nice though.

Pride had been very gracious to his team and instead of bringing them in so early like the previous morning, he had decided the usual time would be sufficient. It wasn't like anything new had come in over night and any and all offices would still be closed early on. He had to grin when he saw Chris come in, toss his bag down and start picking on Percy and Brody. This was a good sign. Elizabeth had quietly followed him in. It always amused him to see opposite couples; in this case - who was the morning person and who clearly was not.

By ten that morning, things were off to a great start. Plame was making great progress with the surveillance camera and the Bay St. Louis police department requested the presence of a couple agents, to which Percy and LaSalle responded to. They were one step closer to solving this case and getting whoever the suspect was off the street.

/

Brody had been discussing with Percy their co-worker of a little over a year (at least for Brody) and this new found part of his life. Percy didn't seem bothered by the fact that they didn't know much about Elizabeth outside of LaSalle. All questions asked had been about /them/ and not /her/. Brody took advantage of LaSalle being out to really talk to Elizabeth. She found her in the kitchen, making hot chocolate. It must have been something she brought with her as Brody didn't recall them having any. "Mind if I join you?"

Elizabeth jumped slightly, "Oh, not at all. Would you like some?" she asked, holding up a packet. It wasn't fancy, but it served it's purpose well enough.

"Sure. Thank you," Brody said, sitting on one of the stools as Elizabeth pulled up the bag she carried with her most of the time. "Work bag?"

Elizabeth nodded, opening up a pocket. "If I didn't carry it with me, I'm sure I'd forget everything. It's not required to have one, by any means. But it makes life a whole lot easier. It makes overnight shifts easier when you can't get to the cafeteria for coffee." She didn't dare drink the dredge in waiting rooms.

"How long have you been a nurse?" Brody asked, and Elizabeth noted the distinctly northern accent, or more appropriately, the complete lack of a southern one.

"Since August 2005. I had been in communication with my current hospital in Mississippi before graduating and I had to get my official certificates and all that. I was a nurse all of two weeks before Katrina wiped us out. Still was needed, if not there. I can't tell you the hours I put in with the Red Cross and various organizations. It was so heartbreaking."

Brody recalled watching everything on TV from miles away. "I saw the news reports but somehow I don't think they scratched the surface."

Elizabeth shook her head. "People were appreciative. /I/ was appreciative; if it wasn't for what I was doing and where, I'd have had no place to go. My apartment was higher up, but I still couldn't get to it. There is a difference between strangers coming to lend a hand and locals helping locals. Personally, we could have done without all the cameras."

"So you're native then, to New Orleans?"

She nodded, "For the most part. I was born in Texas, but the paperwork didn't go through right away or something and I ended up in foster care for a bit before I was able to come home to my parents; I was adopted," Elizabeth added on, in case it wasn't clear. "But after that, this was home. Went to school in Texas and loved it, but this was better. Where are you from?" Perhaps Chris had mentioned and she had forgotten, she wasn't sure.

"Grosse Pointe, Michigan. It's right outside Detroit on Lake St. Clair." Brody said, taking the prepared cup from Elizabeth.

"How do you ever survive those winters?"

"How have you managed to survive summers here?"

Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh. "I guess it's all what we know."

Brody nodded, "So do you have any brothers and sisters?"

"No, I was an only child. My folks aren't around anymore either."

Brody frowned, that seemed horrible. "I'm sorry about that. My parents are still in Michigan. I lost my sister years ago."

Elizabeth merely shrugged at the first comment. "It doesn't bother me so much anymore; please don't take me wrong, I miss them still, but I don't let it overwhelm me. Chris is my family now. He makes up for the loss. I'm sorry about your sister. I don't mean to triavialize any pain you have."

Brody shook her head, "You haven't." She opted to change the subject. "Have you ever seen snow?"

"I think once, maybe. Chris and I went to Alabama and it snowed for a little bit."

It was Brody's turn to laugh. "You poor thing. Next time I go up there during winter I'll be sure to send you a picture, although that doesn't do any justice."

"A picture is all I'll ever get. I get cold down here in the winter, let alone someplace so far north. I've been places up there, just not in winter time." Elizabeth amended. She enjoyed the back and forth of questions. It helped her to get a feel of who Chris was working with.

"I don't mean to get invasive, but how do you and LaSalle manage to make it work?" She was so used to referring to him by his surname, that it didn't cross her mind that Elizabeth shared his name as well.

That caught Elizabeth off guard and she had to take a moment to think as she drank her hot chocolate. "It's a delicate balance. Both of our jobs demand so much and we're both passionate about them. I've thought about moving back here, but I'm not sure I want the intensity of a large hospital." She wouldn't bring up the clashes they've had over jobs. That was too personal. "When we're truly off duty, and I know he's almost always on call, we just devote that time to the other. It's odd, but it works for us. I come up here when I have days and weekends off, and he'll come over there every so often." At least they had been.

Brody nodded as Elizabeth spoke. It did seem truly odd. But if it worked for them, so be it.

/

LaSalle had been very quiet on the ride back from BSL. The evidence found would have a domino effect on several different areas. He didn't want to discuss this with Elizabeth. She was getting restless; he saw the fidgeting and the pacing. Thankfully, for the most part, she had been gracious about it. This new development would cause world war three, he was sure. Before they arrived back at the office, LaSalle told Percy to let him tell Pride what was going on first. It was the only thing he said the return trip.

Fifteen minutes later after arrival at the office, Chris found Elizabeth sitting in the kitchen, idly scrolling through her phone. She could no longer avoid all the texts asking her whereabouts.

"Hey," he said, sitting next to her at the counter.

She glanced up to him, "Figure anything out yet?"

LaSalle gave a small shrug, "Yes and no. You haven't had anyone out to the apartment have you? Electricians, cable, plumber, friends?" he asked, off-handedly.

Elizabeth gave him a curious look, "No."

He merely nodded and thought over his next question. Surely there had to be a tactful way to ask this. "So no one at all?"

She wondered what he was fishing at. "No, no one. I've spent majority of that last month at work. I've been working shifts even on my theoretical days off."

Chris nodded once more. "No one has a key?"

"Chris! Come on! You're the only other one with a key. What's going on?" She was starting to get a bit frustrated with his questions.

He hesitated. "Based on recent evidence, Pride thinks it's best if you stay here through the weekend." It was Thursday afternoon now.

This was not what Elizabeth was wanting to hear. She didn't want to be hear in New Orleans, sitting around doing nothing without even the prospect of going to her home in New Orleans. No, this wasn't a good thing. "What recent evidence?" she said, trying to keep from snapping at him.

Once more, Chris hesitated in answering. "Well, to cover all our bases with this investigation, the police in Bay went over the apartment with a fine tooth comb. Of course, they found fingerprints everywhere. They have isolated several sets. Logically, two of those sets will belong to you and me based on location and all that. The others are... questionable. There hasn't been a hit on them yet. There was also fingerprints on parts of your car that there normally wouldn't be. We sincerely believe that this guy is just doing this to try and make me nervous. But we can't be one hundred percent sure, yet. Which is why Pride wants you here."

Elizabeth took all this in and her facial expression changed several times. She settled on highly annoyed. "And who is supposed to tell all of this to my boss? Who is supposed to pay my bills over there while I am not working? What am I supposed to do here? No. I'm not staying here any longer. It's one thing to be here for the sake of being with you. It's another because of some ... psycho, for lack of a better word, who may or may not do anything. I'd rather take my chances." She left a lot of things unsaid, which was probably for the best. She grabbed her phone off the counter before leaving the kitchen and heading towards the office area.

Chris let out a long sigh before moseying over to the coffeepot. He was more than slightly peeved at her reaction. It was the unknown factor that was driving him crazy. Was this guy dangerous? Was it more than one person? Sure, the other night he had been shot at. But was that the main culprit? He walked into the office area, mug in hand, and looked at the empty, save for Pride, room. "Where'd everyone go?"

"Sent Percy and Brody to the police department to pick up some evidence that may or may not be delayed some. Figured you two needed a modicum of privacy. Of course, when she went out the door, I assumed she didn't take things well. Didn't know she had such a temper." Pride said, watching as his teammate sat at his own desk.

"She really doesn't. It's a lot more tame here. Also, the temper thing is relatively new. I had just hoped it would go away by now."

"You concerned?"

Chris shook his head, "Not much that can be done. It's a time thing. As is this entire case it seems."

Pride gestured with his head towards the area where Plame worked. "He may have something."

/

And hour later, LaSalle was checking his phone every minute or so; he hadn't heard from Elizabeth since she left and a slight nervousness was creeping in. He decided to take the initiative.

/You still mad at me?/

A minute, then two went by.

\Ask me in December\

/Right. Where are you?/

\That little place by our house\

/Order the shrimp and grits/

\No.\

/You're missing out. Stay put there. Team has to go out. Think we may have something after all./

/P will be here. Don't wander off by yourself./

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his last message. /Okay Dad./

LaSalle was almost correct. They had found out one person's name connected to all his trouble. He ended up coming in quietly enough. He wasn't the leader though. The guy was relatively cooperative with them until it came to coughing up names; suddenly, he couldn't talk at all. LaSalle left Percy and Brody to get more information out of him.

Elizabeth had made her way back to the office and was sitting in Chris' chair when he came in. "Fancy meeting you here," he said to her, leaning on the desk, envelope in hand. "Did you get the grits?"

She shook her head. "That stuff is horrible and you know it."

"I don't get how you were raised here and not eat grits. Even Brody has tried them," he said, before opening the envelope. "If I showed you a picture, do you think you could identify someone?"

Elizabeth looked up to him, before shrugging. "I could try." He showed her the picture of the guy currently in their custody. She furrowed her eyebrows in deep thought. "Looks familiar. I don't know where though."

Chris sighed. "He's connected to all this somehow. I don't think he's the one we're really after though."

She looked at the picture again. "I... I think I've seen him in the complex. Maybe with a few other guys. Looks a bit different though," Elizabeth said, trying to recall how. "Maybe his hair is different."

LaSalle raised his eyebrows. "That close to home?" LaSalle took out his phone and called the police department in their town, giving them the name of the person in custody. "We'll see if that matches prints."

/

The other department finally returned LaSalle's call a few hours later, close to the time everyone was supposed to have gone home. It was going to be a long night, no doubt about that. The name of the suspect matched the prints found in the apartment, so they could hold him on breaking and entering; his fingers prints also came back from those found on Elizabeth's car and the one who took the photos of her vehicle. He still wouldn't budge on giving up the other's name involved.

At 9PM, Plame had a breakthrough with the hospital. They finally sent over the surveillance video with the estimate time frame given by LaSalle days earlier. He rolled himself into the main office area where LaSalle and Percy were while Pride tried his hand at interrogation with Brody's help. "I found one person with the broken wrist description. I can't begin to tell you how boring that hospital is."

Elizabeth shrugged, "it keeps us busy. Besides, we're not a trauma center."

Plame handed LaSalle a photo he had printed off, who showed Elizabeth.

"That's one of those other guys that was with your guy," she gestured towards where Pride was.

"Got a name yet?" LaSalle asked Plame.

He shook his head. "No, but it shouldn't take long," he turned and went back to his office.

LaSalle motioned for Percy to follow him up to interrogation leaving Elizabeth by herself once more.

/

At two in the morning, the team finally had the breakthrough they were looking for. They finally got a name out of the suspect. They'd wait until morning before going after him.

With the suspect headed off to the jail, LaSalle was exhausted in every form of the word. All the stress he didn't realize he had been carrying with him seemed to let up. At that late hour, Elizabeth seemed to want to talk, much to Chris' chagrin.

They were still at the office, the women had left and Pride was poking around other parts of the building, maybe even at his bar, LaSalle wasn't sure. He was in his desk chair, leaning back and staring at the ceiling.

"What's going on with us?" Elizabeth asked him, sitting in Pride's chair.

Chris turned to look at her, "You tell me," he said, hands up in a defensive gesture.

She shook her head, "Never mind, forget I asked. Can we go?"

"Oh no. You're not going to start a conversation and leave a man hanging. What's on your mind?"

"Just wondering if I should just stay in Waveland and you stay here," she wasn't going to come right out and say the big word.

With all the turmoil rolling around in his mind, Chris' heart broke at her statement. "Is that what you want? Truly?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "No. But we haven't spoke before all this in over a month. No calls. No texts. Nothing." She knew she was just as guilty for lack of communication.

He shrugged, "I figured you didn't want to see me much. And we did text."

She rolled her eyes. "'I can't come out because of work' every week really doesn't count."

Chris knew she had a point. He had dropped the ball, but then again, so had she. "So what do you want?"

"I want to go home. I want to get back to normal."

"Are you seeing someone else?" Chris regretted the words as soon as he said them, but it had been on the forefront of his mind for a while now.

Elizabeth would have been less surprised had he hit her. "Are you crazy?" She felt like crying at that very moment, just at the accusation.

He struggled for the right words. "It's been the lack of communication. Even when we fight at other times, we still let the other know we're alive. But it's been over a month. And like you said, those other texts don't count. If it hadn't been for this, as off the wall as it is, I wouldn't have heard anything from you."

"I was wondering what was going on out here. I knew if something had seriously happened, I'd be made aware, hopefully. I just kept going between angry at the situation and having hurt feelings, stupid as it is. But no, there is no one else."

"You still angry and hurt?" It was a stupid question; he knew she was.

"A bit. And I'll get over it. I know nothing is going to change. Can we go now?" she asked, a bit impatiently.

Chris sighed, he wanted to get to the root of the matter but he was exhausted. "Alright. Let's go." He had a feeling tonight would not go as well as the prior night.


End file.
